Skyward to Freedom
by MessengerOfDreams
Summary: Entry to TwilightOkama's contest! Zelda and Fox embark on a quest for rebellion, freedom, colors, adventure, revenge, redemption, recovery, and the sky. Who would have imagined it would be so much fun?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Well, as a way to pay TwilightOkami back for completely overshadowing her contest with mine (a misunderstanding caused by us planning before her posting hers) and still entering ours anyway with good spirit, I entered her Unusual Friendship contest! :D**

**So, here we are with _Skyward Freedom!_ I wanted to go with Fox and Zelda for many reasons.**

**I haven't actually gotten too in depth into them due to fear of a giant 200+ chapter reading length, but something about Soundwave writing about Zelda being obsessed with Landmasters stuck with me.**

**Fanfiction has been often inordinately kind to Fox. Byoshi's interpretation of the vulpine in A Step Down From Perfect, probably the best completed full length saga of the Smash Bros forum, Foxpilot's great repping for him in his fics and such (and the fact that he himself reminds me of Fox so much that every time I play as Fox I refer to him as Foxpilot), and more recently entering my vision, SkullFox's amazing if not somewhat confusing 2nd Chance (in StarFox section) that I've been slowly marathoning over the last five days. I wanna add to a tradition of doing Fox fics right.**

**I really wanna get a Star Fox game. Like, more than I do any other Nintendo game I've never played (and that'd be all of them.) One of those is up there with OoT in games I must play soon.**

**I just have this gut feeling such a partnership will turn out good. Always have, for some odd reason.**

**I own nothing, regret nothing. I let them forget nothing. Except the Gazafly. Yep. You ask me to create an OC, and I make it a spacecraft. :3 That's me!**

**Let's go!**

It was just one of those days.

One of those days where everyone except Zelda seemed to be busy with something or another and she found herself thoroughly bored out of her mind. And seeing as she was at what was supposed to be the most extravagant, recordbreaking, innovative and incredible fighting tournament in the world, that was just too much of an oxymoron for her not to get frustrated. She halfheartedly wandered through the different hallways, approaching different people, only to end up with no leads to occupy herself with.

_How I've underestimated you, boredom. Cursed, wretched boredom. Whilst so mundane in appearance you drive the mind mad more than any form of torture could. _

Great. Now she was coming up with poetry to describe her boredom. Gods help her.

She sighed, twirling on her heel into a different hallway, blinking back clouds of exhaustion created by her damned boredom.

_Someday I shall defeat you, boredom... someday._

Since she had literally found no form of entertainment in any other room of the mansion, she deduced drastic times called for drastic measures.

She went into the garage.

It wasn't strictly a garage- it was also a hangar for some of the spacecraft possessed by some of the starbound members of the tournament. Namely, Samus, Fox and Falco. But really, there was nothing special if you didn't own a car or ship. Zelda owned neither. She was notably behind the times- if it wasn't evident enough, she still wore a dress everywhere.

But even observing the somewhat foreign objects wasn't wholly interesting- she knew the basics of mechanical vehicles and what she could see on the outside was nothing new. Either way, she drifted along the front of the cars drearily, gently running a hand across the hoods.

_For Naryu's sake, let something happen! Anything, just make something ha-_

"Someone looks like they're having a good time."

"_Mother of-"_

So deep into her thoughts as she was, coupled with the fact that she could have sworn the hangar was empty, hearing another voice almost caused her to leap so high in surprise she nearly hit an overhand lamp. She heard a surprised, light laugh and settled down, taking a seat on the concrete ground. She looked up to see Fox sitting on the hood of his spacecraft, stretching his leg out off the edge.

"Oh! I did not see you there, Fox," she murmured as she caught her breath. "My apologies."

"Hah, are you okay?" he asked, leaping off the spacecraft. "I thought I gave you a coronary there."

Zelda sighed. "Oh, don't worry," she replied. "Just kinda..." she shook her head swiftly and waved a hand in front of her face as she tried to think of the word.

"...out of it?" Fox offered.

"Yes! Very bored, very dazed. Very out of it."

Fox chuckled. "My sentiments exactly. I thought I was gonna fall asleep... on my ship. And that's a lot harder to do than it seems."

"I'd imagine," she replied. "So, why are you out here?"

Fox sighed. "Ah, I was gonna go for a fly in my Gazafly here. It ain't my Arwing like back home, much too pedestrian... but it'll do." Zelda took a quick moment to look over the ship; a much rounder, sleeker ship that bore more semblance to a car than his Arwing did. "Not that it matters; Master Hand said that he didn't want me going out today."

"...he can do that?"

"Apparently."

"...he can do that."

"What a crock, right?"

Zelda sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Right. What did you do to be told not to leave?"

"...well, you look like you could use a laugh. Apparently he's trying to do a painting of the sky. Says he wants it plain. Nothing in the way."

"...and here I was thinking you beat someone half to death," Zelda admitted.

Fox laughed. "Nah, not today. Just his vain desires keeping me cooped up."

Zelda scoffed as Fox plopped next to her, leaning against a tall red tool cabinet. "I suppose he's going to have someone tell the birds to alternate their instinctual flight path as to not get in his way."

Fox blinked. "Well, that would explain why Mewtwo was in such a hurry today. You don't think..."

Zelda's eyes widened as she leapt to her feet. "...you have to be kidding!" she shouted, violently kicking the cabinet despite being in heels. "You mean the only thing keeping us from having a good time is a self-centered appendage who wants to possess the sky for the day?"

"I like that cabinet..." Fox weakly replied, clambering to his feet.

Zelda groaned. "I'm sorry about that. It's just..."

"Bullshit?" he tried.

Zelda blinked in surprise.

"Wrong word?" he chuckled.

"Actually, that's the perfect word. Thank you."

The air was thick with defeat as Fox and Zelda slumped against opposite wings of the Gazafly, Fox on the pilot's side, aching to get in and fly through the heavens.

Finally, he could take no more. "That's it. I'm getting in," he growled as he opened the door, "and I am getting the hell out of here."

Zelda blinked as he climbed into his seat. "You're going to get into so much trouble!" she hissed, desperate to get him to his senses.

"Pah. What's he going to do to me? Ground me?" he snapped.

"What's he gonna- he's a giant floating hand with unknown quantities of mystical powers for Din's sake!" she protested.

"You honestly think he's going to zap me to death with his lasers?" he scoffed, reclining in his seat. Zelda had trouble hearing him since the door was still closed, but almost upon that thought, the passenger door opened, causing her to jolt.

"Get in," he grinned slyly. Like a fox, Zelda would note with irony later. But at the moment, she was surprised, telling him "I don't want to get in trouble! It's not happening!"

"Get in," he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Not interested!" she insisted.

Fox sighed, jumping out of the passenger's side in one deft movement so he was right next to Zelda. Leaning against the spacecraft, he started in on her. "Oh you're interested. You're just too scared of Master Hand to do anything. Which is ridiculous. Frankly, you're like a five year old afraid of the schoolmaster. And in our case the schoolmaster's the wrong one. Also, you're a princess. Higher title. Sure, it doesn't matter here, but if he ever goes through Hyrule you could..."

"...what? Arrest him? Have him detained? You're clearly not thinking this through," she muttered with a disbelieving smirk.

"_I don't need to!" _he shouted suddenly, causing Zelda to jump again, albeit not as high. Calming down a tad, he continued "Right now I don't care who says what or what kind of power he thinks he has. He's being absolutely ridiculous, and..." he trailed off, letting himself fall against his ship again.

"Heh, sorry about that," he murmured. Before she could forgive, he continued. "But the thing is, you only live once, and I sure as hell ain't gonna spend a damn moment in here when I don't need to be. And just cause Master Hand says I do don't mean that I need to be.

"Trust me. When you look back on today years from now, wouldn't you like to actually be able to remember it?"

Reeling off of his own passion, Fox walked around to his side of the ship and fell into his seat, head leaning against the steering device. Zelda noticed him and wasn't sure what to do. He did have a point, that she could admit.

Meekly, she tried "I... actually have never flown before."

"Thought not," he replied, smile appearing below the dashboard. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on ya."

_Am I really going to do this? _She thought. Every little apprehensive instinct in her mind, body and soul were telling her not to go in. Yet, amid their protests, while she was telling herself not to, she found herself climbing into the passenger seat of the Gazafly, somewhat intimidated by being in something capable of things that a couple of years ago she never could have imagined.

Nervously, she asked "How do you buckle up?" Fox responded by pressing a button, and straps shot out from the wall, binding Zelda to her seat from several different angles, covering half of her chest. She let out a surprised yelp, even more apprehensive now than before.

Fox noticed her frightened eyes as he brought his head up; she looked as if she were trapped with nowhere to go. "Don't worry, Princess," he assured her. "Nothing's gonna happen. I'm the best pilot in the cosmos. I can pull off a routine flight."

Although Zelda wasn't quite assured, she felt a bit better with Fox being so cordial about it. She did her best to perk up and steady her breathing.

"Now, just so you know, we need to sneak around Master's line of, err... sight," he explained. "So the takeoff may be a bit tricky. Don't worry, though."

Zelda nodded, bracing herself for takeoff.

Fox smiled again, getting out a keyring and pressing a red button. The hangar door slowly, quietly opened. Zelda spared a chuckle at how the higher-efficiency, more expensive touches to the mansion were enabling them to make a clean escape. Amused, she smiled and tried to relax.

Before she knew it, though, Fox had launched out at high speed, and her heart caught in her throat. Reflexively she gripped her armrests and bit her lip to keep from screaming.

Her grip on her lower lip was released as Fox went straight up in a sudden 90 degree angle, fifteen feet out of the hangar, and she let out a long scream. Fox laughed in excitement, and suddenly, with a sneaky smile, turned completely upside down, causing Zelda's hair to fall to the roof of the Gazafly as her screams became garbled. Laughing even louder, he flew a good half-mile away from the mansion before flipping 540 degrees, right side up.

"Barrel roll executed," he grinned.

"_What the fu... holy... whazafuwashakawawa..._" Zelda's brain was all but fried during the harrowing flight.

"Having fun, Princess?" he laughed.

"..._you said you were going to go easy on me!" _Zelda's usual calm demeanor was all but nonexistent as she brushed hair out of her face and regained a steady breathing pattern. "_What the hell was that?"_

Realizing the severity of the situation, his face became somewhat crestfallen. "Oh... yeah. Guess I got carried away. Sorry, Princess."

Zelda couldn't help but notice some of the hurt that crept up onto his features for a split second before he regained his grin and gestured grandly to the extensive sky around them. "Observe, Princess, the majesty of the skies."

She looked out the panoramic windows, and the view caused her eyes to widen in wonder and her jaw to drop. The sky was at its finest blue, the green knolls and its flora looked like marvelous tapestry finer than any royal robes. The birds flew among them, above, below and beside them. An eagle even came up to her window for a short second. She was like a kid, observing everything she thought she knew from such an incredible new level. She felt her eyes water with an indescribable feeling, overwhelmed with so many emotions.

"It's... I dunno how to... describe it..." she breathed, mystified. "...It's... miraculous."

Fox smiled. "Exactly. There's a feeling to flying... you can do it a million times and it never becomes mundane. Not like cars; you never see someone get a rush going to the mini-mart in one of those things."

"Unless they're Captain Falcon," Zelda pointed out.

"Well he's just an all around exception," he countered, before smiling with genuine bliss and adding "But up here... no buildings... no paved roads... no set way to go... you can make the same journey millions of ways." He sighed in a mixture of emotions. "Pure freedom."

Zelda nodded, letting herself relax a bit, face reclining so she had a viewpoint on Fox. She noticed that he was extremely focused on the flying, but that slowly, his eyes became downcast and his smile followed, as if they were reacting to his thought process. Instinctively, she put a hand on his shoulder gingerly.

He noticed. "Thanks," he replied, his mouth turning up ever so slightly.

She nodded silently as a response. As she watched the vulpine pilot soar through the skies before turning her gaze back to the free skies, she wondered what exactly it was that Fox needed the freedom for so badly right now.

**A/N I have this set up to where I can add more chapters separately (since if this were all at once it'd be a long long oneshot) but still leave it so if I miss the deadline, I have a solid entry. This will be my temporary main focus until the three next chapters are up, which will be very soon, then I'll actually get some Audience and Down to Earth on. **

**Also, regarding Strings, hopefully that will start up before the end of July again. For some reason I was under the mindset that I had delayed it till September (waaaaaaaaay off) so when I get Audience finished (sorry for the delays!) Strings will likely start up and the (somewhat dying) Romance Commission will slow down. Down To Earth is in the Mario section, so unless you read there, you're likely not to experience much of it.**

**Also, it should be noted that the premise of this story bears a bit of semblance to John Green's _Paper Towns. _I won't say much more- it's definitely not a carbon copy but the gist of it is a tad bit similar- I'm separating it as much as possible. I finished reading it, and it is probably the best book I've ever read. I'm not exaggerating. It's fantastic.**

**Well, here goes Skyward Freedom! :D I hope you enjoy! (And I hope I don't randomly name change.)**

**MoD**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Well, here's the second of four chapters (and a prologue) for _Skyward to Freedom! _I want to provide the segue to the, ahem, grand show. ;)**

**Not to whine, but if you enjoy, review! Getting a bit of a shortage of those. ;) So I'd appreciate it! **

**MoD**

Zelda's fascination never ebbed for a moment during the entire flight. Awed, she gazed out the window in a drifted wonder, rarely speaking. The area surrounding the mansion looked nice as it was, but seeing it from the skies in a ship with such a beautiful view was more than she ever could have dreamed for.

As Fox glided through the sky, he took a moment upon gaining a steady pattern to glance at his passenger. She was smiling softly, her hand on her chest, and he noticed a distant tear in her eye. With a smile, he tapped her on the shoulder. She blinked; her stray, quiet tears hitting her dress, and he asked her "It's magical, isn't it?"

She smiled, her voice a mystified whisper. "It's majestic. In... all my years, and amid all my wisdom, I never thought I'd be flying above it all like this. I... can't believe that just a few minutes ago, I was so dreary and bored." Sighing, she added "It truly is magical, more so than any magic I could do."

Fox chuckled. "Glad to hear it," he said, but his face became dark with a concealed pain as he replied "I could use some of that magic myself."

The pilot's nuance didn't go past Zelda, and she started to reply, but before she could say a word, he replied "I came here to get away from all this."

"All wha-"

"Please," he sighed. "Let's just... enjoy." Upon the last word, his smile returned, albeit a bit forced, and he didn't object when Zelda squeezed his paw for a brief second before returning her gaze onto the skies. She did decide to strike up a conversation, though. "So, what are we going to do from here?"

Fox smirked. "Ah, I dunno," he replied. "That whole Master Hand thing, him being such an ass, really gets me." Before she could respond, he interjected with "And for the record, that's not what's bugging me, so don't think that you're getting any clues on that."

Zelda raised an eyebrow in surprise, seeing as that was exactly what she was hoping to do. But she ignored the comment otherwise, going for his first sentences. "So... what exactly do you want to do about it? Master Hand, I mean."

Fox grinned crookedly. "I want to rebel," he responded simply.

The word _rebel _was a pretty wanton word for Zelda, seeing as she was a princess; a figure of authority it would be very easy to try and rebel against. "Rebel?" she asked. "That's... kind of asking for trouble, isn't it?"

Annoyed, he snapped back "Come on, Zelda, you can't possibly be scared of him. He's a hand and a brain. I've got a brain, two hands, and everything else. And so do you, for that matter. And we haven't gotten our brains up our asses telling the world to stop so he can paint. Clearly we have an advantage."

"I just don't think stirring up trouble is going to solve-"

"Let me stop you right there," Fox growled his interruption, focused. "If we just go on the way we are right now, whining occasionally but not actually doing anything, Master Hand's just gonna brush it off and prance around, figuratively speaking. If we really show him 'enough is enough' he's gonna get the message. Worth a try, at least. Either that or we can just continuing being the drab, sad sacks of boredom we already are."

Zelda was still incredulous. "...so what are we to do? Get some tomatoes and throw them at him?"

Fox chuckled dryly. "You underestimate me. Or confuse me with Falco. No, I'm not that immature. But still... I don't know what exactly I should do."

"Well..." Zelda thought out loud, leaving a five-second space of silence before she continued, "if we go through with this, we don't want to give Master Hand the illusion that giving us more freedom is a bad thing, hence, attacking him is a bad idea."

"True..." Fox mused. "But I still kind of want to get back at him."

"We can do that," the princess chuckled. "I say instead of launching lasers at him, we disrupt his precious painting. And fast, too. Seeing as he's a giant hand and all, he's probably a fast painter."

"Or a bloody perfectionist."

"Come again?"

"Master Hand takes, like, the entire day to finish one painting, getting every little detail straight. Damn the fact that it's a painting of the sky, he etches out every single cloud madly. Trust me."

"Farore's gale..."

"I don't get it either."

Zelda took this into consideration, mulling her ideas over. "I suppose," she suggested, "that since he's so pigheaded about his own vision on things, that we should intrude on the image he has painted for us."

Slowly, as Fox thought it over, a beam lit up his face. "You, ma'am, are as every bit a wise sage as they say you are. Brilliant idea!"

Zelda turned slightly red. "Thank you," she smiled.

"Glad to have you in on the scheming," he added with a knowing wink.

"Wha..." Zelda chuckled at his correct statement; at how fast she had been roped into the idea. "Hah, glad to be in, I suppose."

"So, princess," the pilot slowed down as he asked her "where to?"

Zelda wasted no time. "Any fabric stores nearby?" she inquired. Fox responded by pressing a button, causing a screen to appear in the center of the dashboard.

"You good with computers and such?"

"Moderately, I suppose."

"Okay, then. I want you to type in 'fabric stores' on the touch screen, and then it'll show us some different coordinates to some places we can go."

Zelda nodded. "A GPS, you mean?"

"Oh, you know what those are?"

Zelda smirked, shoving her companion in jest. "Come on, don't undermine me," she chuckled. "I may not have much experience with it, but I know what this stuff is!"

Fox laughed. "Whoa, careful there, ma'am!" he told her. "You shove me while I'm flying, and I could end up doing _this!"_

Upon that last word, Fox spun the ship into a downward spiral, wickedly relishing her frightened screams blended with thrilled laughs as he roared laughter of his own. He let the Gazafly spiral for a good ten seconds before steadying it out, enjoying the sight of Zelda's helplessly scattered and messy hair.

She was in hysterics, squeaking out unstoppable, high pitched laughter, hunched over in her seat and occasionally pounding on the dashboard, trying to relieve herself of her overwhelming laughter. She pulled herself up, sputtering out "You...you... son... you little... you... bwahahaha!" And before she knew it, she was in helpless laughter again.

Fox grinned, amused and endeared by her current state. A lot of fun it was, dragging someone so vivacious out of such a collected lady. From experience, a lot better than the vice versa.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," she gasped in between breaths.

**A/N Well then, a short chapter! I wanted to go ahead and give a bit of premise. Chapter 3 will be out soon, it was going to be part of chapter 2 but, me being the make-things-a-hundred-times-longer-than-intended guy, things just can't go my way. XD Ah well, it's going good.**

**Hope you enjoyed, and will enjoy chapter 3, and hopefully enjoy reviewing as well! :D**

**MoD **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Oh shi- it's the 8th already? o.o Better hustle! Also, damn! Prologue is the beginning. EPILOGUE (what I meant) is the ending. Sorreh. **

**Something you should know- this is sort of an AU, and by that I mean, I put a big new event in the storyline of StarFox that would replace some of the true events. It was just such a concept that I thought I'd add it in. It's probably not a good idea and Starfox fans may give me THE GLANCE, but this is highly experimental. Sue me. :D**

**Enjoy!**

Eventually, though, Zelda would find a fabric store, and Fox would decide it was time to touch down and get to work. Zelda found herself disappointed that the adventure was taking a slower pace. However, as she walked under the sign reading "Laura's Fabric Superstore" she had a feeling that the best was yet to come.

It was interesting, being in the ship as it touched down. The adrenaline seemed to simply flow out of the ship and its inhabitants, and everyone was calmed down. Zelda appreciated that she was able to walk into the fabric store with a cool head and a focused intent. Fox trailed immediately behind her, and she could tell he seemed prepared as well.

But he did ask this. "Hey, Zelda, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Fabric," was all she replied with.

Fox quickly looked around the store, which was every bit a superstore as the sign outside had stated. "I... figured that out. But what fabric?"

"Whatever catches your eye. As much as you want, whatever you want. Go nuts."

Fox took a good look at her, if only to be reassured she was sane. He found that her face bore a look of determination, but she had a glint of madness in her eyes, and that caused Fox to grin ever so slightly. "Alrighty, princess. You'll regret that, though."

"I'll regret nothing," she cracked a grin.

Fox smiled and before Zelda knew what he was doing, he had darted off down an aisle. Zelda chuckled and, grabbing a large handtruck, started to make her way into the throes of the store.

The first aisle she traversed down was home to the red fabric. She didn't discriminate much, just pulled anything out that looked good. Soon enough, she had stacked seven rolls on top of each other, all different shades of red. She was particularly proud of one that perfectly matched Mario's shirt, and another matching the burned red of Roy's hair.

She went down the next aisle, with green fabric, and browsed through the different shades. She chuckled as she found a green fabric that was the same dark emerald as Link's tunic. She put that on top of the stacks of red and she came up with an idea.

The idea was somewhat along the lines of subliminal colors to represent each smasher. After all, if you're going to do a guerrilla oppression demonstration, may as well represent the others.

Zelda grinned, rubbing her hands together to revel in her devious plans of civil disobedience. She looked around and grabbed a lime green that was more similar to Luigi's clothes. For her next person, she got on her knees and dug around through the leftover fabrics, madly throwing the unwanted ones into the aisle before she found the one she was hoping for. A white one with large green splotches, similar to a Yoshi's egg. She threw it on top of the others and left the aisle, not even bothering to clean up her mess. The idea of a good plan coming together was enthralling to her.

In the yellow aisle. In one swift move, she pushed her handtruck down the aisle, snagged the yellow roll she was aiming for, and by the time she was at the end of the aisle, the yellow was topping the handtruck. She mentally pat herself on the back for executing such a move, and spared a thought about how badass she must have looked.

The next aisle was the oranges, and as Zelda would note, the browns as well. She found herself busy in this aisle, grabbing an orange for Samus' Varia suit, a chestnut brown for Donkey Kong, and a greenish brown for Bowser. Reluctantly, and with distaste, she grabbed a burnt orange for Ganondorf, and then found a subtle tan that reminded her of Fox.

She smiled as she wondered what the pilot was doing. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea when he first started the small brainstorm up in the ship, and about just sticking it to the Hand in general. She had a feeling that he was probably going crazy getting different fabrics together. Hmm... may be a good idea to let him in on the new plan before he buys up half the store.

She took the handtruck and piloted her way through the plain white tiles of the store, like a riverboat through a canal of white. Looking down any aisle she passed, she didn't stop until she found him in the aisle of blues.

"Hey, Fox!" she called. "I wanted to catch you before you got too crazy, cause I have an..." her voice died down as she saw Fox wasn't doing much of anything. He had one purple fabric beside him, and held in his arms like a child, a bright, royal blue. What was most telling, however, was that he was sitting on the floor, against the shelves of fabric. His head was down, and if it weren't for the steady movement of his chest he'd seem all but lifeless.

"Fox?" she asked briskly, somewhat surprised. She knelt down next to him and asked "Are you okay?"

She received a halfhearted grunt in reply. With the short tilt of his head he made she could tell that he was not happy.

"Fox!" she replied louder, trying to snap him out of his trance. Fox groaned in annoyance and clambered to his feet, replying "Oh hey, princess. What's up?"

"You tell me," she replied steadily. "What's up with you?"

"What?" he shrugged, still not letting the blue roll go, although the purple one was abandoned.

She sighed, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "Listen, Fox. Something's up. I wasn't born yesterday. Frankly, you look miserable, and you're acting it more than you think you are. You're no smooth operator, and if we are to pull the mission off that was of your conception, we can't do it whilst you're clouded in a haze of sadness. So," she offered a slight, unflinching smile, "spill it."

Fox sighed, slumping against the shelf again but not falling to a seat. "Fine. You wanna know, I'll tell you. As much as I don't want to, I'll go ahead and sort through this."

Zelda kept her hand on his shoulder and advised him with "I find the things that need to be said the most are often the hardest to say. So you're on the right track."

Fox sighed. "You're a real wise girl, Zelda," he noted with a weak smile, "and you're right. But I really don't wanna do this. I just don't like feeling so... weak, and hyperemotional... and god this is just way too much for either of those dreaded feelings."

Zelda giggled despite her best efforts. "Fox, I'd be the last person who could reasonably judge you for that. I'm right here. There's pretty much nothing that'll blow me away here. So, go right ahead."

Fox sighed. "Okay, then. Well," but the next few seconds were silent as Fox sorted through his thoughts. "You ever do something seriously stupid awhile back and it still has repercussions on what you do today?"

Zelda shook her head. "Not personally," she admitted, "but I understand what you mean."

Fox nodded. "Well... I don't mention it much, if ever, because I like to think that it doesn't matter much in the mansion and in the tournament. But... about a couple years back, in between the first tourney and this one, my crew I went on a mission that defied the direct orders of the military. I went to Sector Z because I was sure that Andross was plotting there- I had a flimsy piece of proof, but I dragged my team into going there anyways, even though I knew that traveling into Sector Z was prohibited due to the decided danger of the area. But, hey, I didn't care.

"Long story short, the mission was a disaster from the start, and we were eventually forced to call the militant forces of Corneria to rescue us. By far the most humiliating moment of my life. They fished us out and immediately put us on lockdown.

"We were somewhat lucky; we weren't imprisoned for that long but they restricted us from piloting spacecraft or leaving the planet without authorization for five years. A sort of house arrest. In addition, they took our ship and all of our equipment from Starfox itself so that we couldn't sneak out. Kind of like being stuck in the house and not being able to leave."

"Ah..." Zelda understood his feelings and how they related to his past and his shameful events. She said no more so that he could go on.

"Fortunately, though, they let me come here to Junction City so that I could partake in the Melee tournament, but that's somewhat insignificant. Thing is, I failed my team, and we're still suffering because of it. It's why Master Hand's constantly keeping watch on me even when he's not being a tool. And back at home, everyone's grown restless. Complacent, restless. Irriatble. We're losing each other, the team, the family, all because I was a damned fool!" The last words were spoken with a shout and an angry kick to the shelf which fortunately did no damage.

Zelda's eyes widened. "Keep it together!" she hissed. "You don't want to look like a fool now!"

Fox sighed, taking a deep breath. "You're right, you're right. But even the Gazafly is all that I could have in flight craft. It wouldn't last more than a short trip into space, meaning no escape. Just long enough for a recreational flight of five minutes, barely qualifying it for spacecraft. But it's flying. It's freedom. Freedom from my wrongdoings and from the strife and from the imprisonment. And when I can't do that because someone wants to paint, that's just... no." He slumped further into the shelf.

"So," Zelda asked, "that explains Master Hand. But, if you don't mind me asking, what's so sad about the blue?"

Fox nodded, holding up the roll. "I was just minding my own business, looking for fabric, and I stumbled upon this. It's... the same color fabric as Krystal's fur."

Zelda nodded, having heard brief mentions of her now and again as Fox's mate. "And?" she urged.

"Ever since it happened, and we've been quarreling as a team, I've noticed that we've went from being in a relationship to her barely looking at me. I haven't touched her in months, but somehow she's still here with us. But when she's there, she's... not really there. She seems so lifeless, so passionless. She used to be so happy, so upbeat, active. Such a light... and she's dimmed... and I can't light her back up... and that hurts me so much. I... don't want to lose her." With a nervous chuckle, he added "I mean, I still see her everywhere."

Zelda nodded, granting another small smile.

"Well," Fox shrugged, his face red from the pressure of revealing so much troubles, "that's it."

Zelda nodded, letting him go. "I... totally understand, if I can't relate," she explained. "And I can see why you want to do this so bad. You're an awfully brave man, Fox, to risk getting into more trouble so you can stand up for your beliefs, and for your team. Because, really, it's a statement for them as well."

Fox chuckled. "Like I said, you're a wise girl." He sighed, dropping the blue into Zelda's pile, and then the purple. Then, before Zelda knew what had happened, he had pulled her in for a brief hug. "Anyway, thanks for bringing me to my senses. I owe you one."

"Aw," she gushed with a smile. "You don't need to worry about it. That's what friends are for."

Fox chuckled as he let her go. "Course. Anyway, that idea?"

Zelda grinned, her excitement returning as she pulled her cart forward. "Ah, yes! In order to truly make our statement, I wanted to color-coordinate our fabric with the different smashers! I have red for Mario and Roy, Green for Link, Orange for Samus, just to name a few."

Fox chuckled, and instantly grabbed a bright, bold blue on the opposite shelf of where he was before. "I was just thinking that this one reminds me of Falco!"

Zelda smiled as he placed it in the pile. "Perfect! Now, let's find a blue for Marth."

Fox nodded as they started rummaging through the different types of fabric. And while Fox still didn't feel renewed or whole or 'all better' just yet, he felt that he was going to make it through the day, and possibly through several more.

A good start, he supposed.

**A/N Dear god. I am, like, hauling rear, and still, this is taking forever. I had something come up that kept me from this, so now I gotta go manic. I know it's uncouth to ask for extensions, but it's worth a try. If you could spare one extra day, Twilight, it'd ease my mind more than you'd know.**

**Also, yes, here's chapter 3. ...not really chapters, as you can tell. Just section three. Hope you enjoyed!**

**MoD**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N The 4th chapter! Gotta run gotta run now. Gotta run gotta run now. And spryly.**

**Some notes- I have changed the setting to be during the Melee tourney. Turns out getting 50 different fabrics and fitting them in is waaaaaaay outside of my abilities at the moment. Also, thank you, Twilight, for extending the deadline to the 13th! That's perfect!**

**Also, I think this would fit the teen rating a bit better due to some of the language, being just above the K+ level. There's still little violence and no lewd themes, so that you needn't worry about. Just some occasional language for the most part, and then a significant increase towards the end due to a very agitated avian.**

**Also, long chapter alert. This is the main feature.**

Zelda thanked the goddesses above that she had a sizable amount of money as a princess- all the fabric combined easily went into the upper hundreds. She couldn't help but chuckle the look of shock that crossed over Fox's face as he saw the total ring up. She politely told him "Oh, no need to worry," and put forth a small stack of bills from her purse to pay for the fabric like it was nothing. Which, really, to her, it was.

Fox smiled as he gave a subtle thanks by pushing the cart out towards the ship, as fast as he could. Zelda trailed him, trying to keep up as she readjusted her wallet in her purse.

"So," he asked, "how are we going to fit... ten, twenty, twenty five, all twenty seven rolls in this car?"

Zelda mused over this point as Fox opened the trunk. "Well... your trunk is about seven feet wide, five feet deep and two to three feet tall. Now each roll is about half a foot by five feet by another half foot..."

"Ugh. Math."

"It'll fit," Zelda figured it out by the time Fox had submitted his brief complaint. "Just gotta... stack them in there in a row, like so." She got to work swiftly, and before Fox knew what was going on, she had stacked most of the rolls in the trunk, each on top of the other in a pyramid.

"Wow," was all Fox could say.

Zelda giggled as she placed the last rolls on top of the right angled pyramid, corresponding with the trunk space. When she was satisfied, she dusted her hands off on her dress, not that there was anything on them.

Fox grinned. "Wow. And color coordinated, too."

Zelda laughed again. "I can't help it! I'm kind of a neat freak!"

"I'll say. How'd you get so good?"

"Well..." Zelda found herself turning red. "You ever have those days where you're so bored that you start..." she let out an embarrassed laugh "time yourself to see how fast you can organize your room perfectly?"

Fox laughed, despite the annoyed look on the princess' face. "No, actually," he replied, "but I may end up using that idea yet."

Zelda giggled. "Ah, well... I've had a lot of those days. And now, lo and behold," Fox took note of the rare sarcasm in her tone, "even that gets boring to me. So instead, I find myself..."

"Planning random acts of civil disobedience?" Fox added with a chuckle.

"Yes, exactly!" she laughed boisterously. "Quite a drastic change, really."

"That's the cool part," Fox reassured her. "Shall we go?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, let's-" she stopped when she realized that some of the fabric rolls were starting to shake,and the whole thing seemed ready to collapse. With a gasp, she grabbed the trunk door and slammed it shut, throwing her weight against it before any of the fabric could roll out.

"Dear Din," she gasped, leaning against the trunk.

Fox rolled his eyes, helping her up. With a smirk, he pressed a button that opened both of their doors. "I could have just done that," he added.

"...of course. Should have known that."

Both occupants made themselves comfortable in the Gazafly before Fox closed the doors and started liftoff. The Gazafly only needed the short distance of the parking lot before it could blast off. Zelda found herself just as enthralled as the ship sped into the sky, although she was able to keep herself somewhat composed since Fox wasn't trying any funky moves. She had a grin on her face the entire time as the clouds zoomed by them.

"So," Fox started, bringing Zelda to reality, "I have bits and pieces of your plan put together, but give me the full picture, alright?"

"Of course," Zelda nodded, shaking her head rapidly in an odd attempt to clear her mind. "So, here's what we're gonna do. When we get to the mansion I wanna find Master Hand's window, and I want to get just above it in our ship, and then we start dropping the fabric."

"Drop the fabric? From the ship?"

"You know, something to get in the way of his painting. The fabric repesenting us, and the view he's trying to paint his selfish desires."

"Ah... kind of a people power statement," Fox deduced.

"Exactly!"

"That's pretty cool," he grinned.

"I think it kicks ass," she admitted with a blush.

"Oh!" Fox was both amused and surprised. "Well, if you say so!"

The ship raced through the skies towards the mansion. Fox chuckled and said "Remember that one time where Master Hand had the chefs stop mid meal to prepare something different because he wasn't in the mood for tacos?"

Zelda giggled. "My goddess, yes. I remember that. I remember everyone in the room just... sat at their seats and blinked. And then Kirby, who was cooking, came out and told Master... what again?"

"...I don't know, but I remember there being a word or two in there that young puffballs shouldn't be saying."

Zelda chuckled. "Ah, I remember he was miffed."

Fox chuckled. "Indeed, indeed. Or the time he re-arranged all the matches in a specific way, so that we were fighting those who were closest to us?"

Zelda's expression turned sour. "Ugh... yes, I remember that. Why did he do that again?"

"He... wanted some newsworthy events to happen so he could get some publicity for the fights. And his cattle walked right into the stadium in droves."

Zelda sighed. "And afterward, the Ice Climbers spent the week apart, Peach was upset that she had hurt Mario so bad, and... Link and I are still kind of tense with each other. I remember how we fought over whether or not we were going to listen and fight..."

"Certainly didn't do any wonders for my strained brotherhood with Falco," Fox quipped. "Wish I had done something then."

"Well..." Zelda smiled slightly. "We're doing something now."

Fox put his paw on hers with a cordial smile. "We're doing something now. For retribution."

Zelda nodded, gently squeezing his hand. "How long until we get to the mansion?" she asked.

"T Minus five minutes," was the response.

"Okay," Zelda reacted by reaching through the open layout of the ship and eventually being able to reach the first roll, a black one representing Game and Watch. "So, how do we open the window?"

"Actually," Fox responded, a bit hesitant, "this isn't designed to have open windows. It's for the places in the sky with less oxygen, or no oxygen. We keep the air in here healthy and breathable so that way we don't choke."

"Great," she sighed, throwing her hand in the air. "So, what are we going to do, open the whole door?"

No response.

"...what the hell?"

"Exactly. We're opening the door."

"...we can't-" words were failing the princess, which was a feeling she hated.

"We can, and we will," Fox insisted. "You won't fall out, because I'll make sure you don't."

"Make sure? I can't hang out of a moving ship!" she insisted.

"Need I remind you that you're flying with a world class pilot?" Fox reminded her. "We got this, just trust me."

Zelda sighed. "Alright, crack her open."

Fox pressed a red button, and both of the doors dislodged from the ship, flying into the wind and then towards the ground. Zelda looked on in astonishment, but Fox shrugged. "Emergency exit button. Don't worry, these doors are a dime a dozen."

Reaching out into the empty stretch of sky with his left hand, he added "See? Now I'm just as much exposed as you are."

Zelda smiled. "Thanks, Fox. For everything."

"Hell," he replied. "I should be thanking you!" He grinned, turning slightly pink as Zelda gave him a short hug and got into her seat. As she prepared herself, Fox announced "I see the mansion! I repeat, we are at the mansion! I'm gonna sweep the area for the Hand, and then we can start."

Zelda gripped her seat. "Let's do this," she declared through gritted teeth.

Fox piloted the ship just to the side of the mansion. Zelda tried to hide her fear but it was hard when she could literally touch the mansion if she were to reach out. She gulped and dug her nails into her seat.

Suddenly, Fox dove up into the air by ten feet, and he slowed down to a slower speed. He nodded at Zelda, and she took her cue, and started to roll some of the fabric off of the black roll. When she had a good ten feet off of the first fifty foot roll, she draped it off of the ship. As it flapped in the wind, she rolled more and more off until the entire roll's worth ended in her hands and started fifty feet below them. She let it go and watched it fly through the wind.

Thinking quickly, she grabbed two rolls, the first a stark white, the next a soft grey. She unraveled them in her lap one at a time, and then threw all three rolls out her door. She took the fabric and draped it out the door, both at once, but almost immediately let them fall out the door.

"We're doing good," Fox announced. "Going slow enough so each piece is barely separated."

"Keep it up!" she replied enthusiastically as she pulled out a wisteria fabric. She smiled; this was to represent the gray jumpsuit of Sheik and the light pink dress she often favored on the battlefield. She pushed the tube straight out of the fabric this time and threw out one end of the roll as if it was a rescue rope, and kept the other in her hand for a good few seconds, allowing the wisteria to straighten out before it fell to the ground.

She grabbed a pale pink with splotches of white, made to resemble Jigglypuff. She pulled a similar routine to the one before, but simply let it drop immediately this time and unfurl in the sky. It was an impressive, spiraling sight.

A pink and black fabric followed, representing Kirby. She smiled as the conversation with the kid and Master Hand came into memory, and as Fox had said it certainly wasn't as clean as his normal disposition. In one swift motion, after pushing out the tube, she cast one end out like a fishing rod, but didn't hold onto the other end, and it soared for quite a horizontal distance.

The next was a bubblegum pink, vibrant and lively, just like Princess Peach. She started to unravel the line when she heard a deep, ominous voice.

"I can see you, Zelda and Fox," she could hear Master Hand declare sternly. Panicked, she looked at Fox, but he replied with "The best demonstrations show no fear at the oppressor. Fire away."

She nodded, and, not acknowledging the voice any further, reached for the reds. She unfurled Roy's red first, grabbing both ends like a parachute and letting it pick up wind outside the door. Before she could get dragged away, she let it go.

"You must stop what you are doing now, or you will face the consequences," Master called again. She continued to ignore him and unfurled the heroic red of Mario. Slowly, the fabric draped out the door before floating through the sky in a brave, haphazard pattern. She found herself intrigued by the flight of the red, and she was astonished when it was torn in half.

"What in Din's name?" she hissed in wonder. The objects came further into view and Zelda had to jerk her head in to save face. The objects passed within inches of the ship before disappearing out of view.

"What were those?" she gasped.

"I dunno," Fox replied, "but they look dangerous. Keep attent." And with that, sped up a little bit, but told Zelda "Keep going!"

Zelda wasted no time, grabbing the oranges and browns. The first one was Ganondorf's. She couldn't be bothered to give him a ceremony, so she just threw the whole roll out the door, where it slowly unfurled. Next was Bowser's olive brown, which she gave a simple unfurling to. Samus was next, and Zelda simply pushed out the center and thrust the fabric out the door, and it sprawled through the sky fantastically. Donkey Kong's chestnut came after that, barreling through the sky at high speeds.

And then of course, there was Fox. She took the fabric representing him, unsprawled it, and handed it to him. He blinked, but responded in kind, turning a one-eighty and unceremoniously throwing it out his door.

Suddenly, there was a clunk on the ship. Zelda jumped in her seat, and then peered out her side of the ship. "I don't know what that was," she said breathlessly. "Do you?"

Fox leaned out the door, to Zelda's worry, and looked around him. He noticed something on the roof of the ship. "There's a little... metal ball on the roof," he announced. "I don't know what it does."

Zelda noticed that they were slowly heading towards the ground, if only by an inch a second. "We're going down!" she announced.

Fox blinked. "You don't think that thing is weighing us down, do you?"

"It's a possibility! Put a little more strength in the engine!" she replied.

"I'll try!" he shouted as Zelda pulled out the yellow fabric, that is to say, Pikachu and Pichu's fabric. She unraveled it and slung it out like a whip, causing it to catch air and escape her grasp. "Can you see Master Hand?" she asked, since she was turned away from his window.

"I can!" he replied. "He's in his window. He's... oh shit."

"What is it?" she demanded in fear.

"He's got more of those metal balls!" he gasped. "And he's getting ready to- okay, princess, just hold on tight."

"Hold on ti-" Zelda interrupted her own sentence with a stream of shrieks as Fox upped a gear, speeding through the skies. Zelda looked out the front windshield in fear, and while she couldn't see Master Hand yet, she could see three of those metal balls. One of them flew directly above the Gazafly, and two to the sides, all of them missing the ship.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" Fox ordered as he slowed down a bitm turning Zelda back towards Master Hand's window. Zelda complied, reaching for the greens. The first to go out was the Yoshi egg fabric, and she simply rolled it into a messy ball after removing the tube, appropriately throwing it out the door as a Yoshi's egg should be thrown. Luigi's was next. She held onto that one for a few seconds as she let it drape out the side like a flag, and then let it go.

She noticed that Link's was next, for both him and his younger self. She frowned a little bit, running her fingers along the fabric gently. She may not have been able to empathize with much of what Fox had been through, but she did know how he felt holding the regal blue fabric in the store. She hoped this would be a step in the right direction, a step into relieving the tension between the two of them.

She became aware of Fox's hand on her shoulder, and looked at him to see a knowing smile. He did say, however "You might wanna get going on that, princess."

"Oh? Of course!" she mumbled as she removed the tube and let the fabric soar through the sky, heading up above the Gazafly. The smile she wore as it floated on dissipated into a frown as another metal ball ran into the fabric. The fabric slowed it down, but that didn't work in their favor. The metal sphere continued to fly towards the ship, cementing itself to the metal wing on Zelda's side.

"Giant freaking magnets," Fox mused. "Bastard hand."

"Eep!" she squeaked. "Damnit, Fox, I'm sorry!"

"Sorry's gonna get us nowhere! We'll be okay, just keep at it! Don't let him win!" Fox was in the zone as he instructed Zelda, who reached back for the blues and mixed fabrics. By the time they were all ready, crammed into the seat between them and behind them, Fox had spun around so that they were above the roof, with Zelda's side over the side towards Master Hand's window. She let out Captain Falcon's navy blue first, thrusting it out and watching as it sped through the sky at top speeds. Suddenly, it boomeranged into Master Hand's window itself, causing her to let out an excited giggle. She let Marth's azure go next, watching as it slunk out the window gracefully, its flight short when the fabric found itself resting over the gutter, draped like a flag.

The Ice Climbers were represented by a baby color based fabric, one part pink and one part blue. She watched in interest as the colors breezed slowly and lazily through the sky, creating an interesting, unique feel. Next was Ness' fabric, a pale blue and yellow striped mix that Zelda found in the bargain bin. As she allowed it to float around, she noticed that it moved up around the ship and hit the tail of the ship. Suddenly, it propelled forward past the ship before losing momentum and falling like a leaf to the ground.

"We're leaving an impact!" She announced with cheer, looking up at Fox. Immediately, she realized something was wrong if she was looking _up _at Fox, and indeed it was. The plane was affected by the metal ball on Zelda's side, and the plane was at a twenty five degree angle, and shifting rapidly.

"Fox!" she shouted in fear, noticing that his upper half was tilted towards Zelda as he continued to pilot the ship. "What do we do?"

"We're almost done! Just make a run for home base!" he declared.

Zelda took that as a notion to continue, and she unraveled Falco's bold feather color, and simply tossed it out the window. The fabric flew around haphazardly, making its way behind the ship and around it, flapping around in madcap desperation.

"Hah!" Fox laughed despite the peril of it all. "That thing can fly just as well as Falco can!" His joke was interrupted when he could see Master Hand himself, a hundred feet away, draped in the Captain's fabric, aiming three metal balls at them. To Zelda, it seemed everything from then on went in slow motion.

Not reacting to Master Hand as he threw the metal spheres, she put all of her adrenaline in rapidly undoing the last blue fabric and, after kicking the cardboard tube out the door, got ready to toss the blue as well. Then, all at once, the three magnets hit, one in the tail, one in the center, and another on Zelda's wing. As Zelda tossed the fabric out the window, the Gazafly tilted drastically to a sixty degree angle, successfully ejecting Zelda out of the side of the ship.

"Zelda!"she heard her companion shout in shock. She spent no time crying for help, instinctively jumping towards the fabric barely tossed in the sky. Before it could descend too far, she had grabbed a hold of it, and her fall became easier when she gripped it like a clumsy parachute. Immediately below her was the roof, and she was low enough to run along it and leap off the edge in a glorious declaration of freedom, laughing in excitement all the way across the sky.

Inside the mansion, Falco sighed, flopped against his chair. He was in the living area just outside the patio. "This is the most boring fucking day ever!" he whined, for perhaps the seventieth day in the past few years.

While no one was bothered to reply, there was a general murmuring of agreement. Link, Samus, Donkey Kong and Pikachu all sat around the living area. Link and Samus faced the TV, and Pikachu sat in Samus' lap. Donkey Kong sat near the window, looking out into the sky, his face expressionless.

Silence reigned for a few more moments before Falco leapt to his feet and declared "That's it! I'm doing something. Anyone wanna get off their asses and train with me?"

"Do you have to be so obnoxious about your boredom?" Samus replied dryly. "I mean, I'm just as bored and I'm not making you suffer. And as for a reply, no, I'm not going to train right now."

Pikachu made no effort to move, so Falco gathered a no from him as well. Looking desperately at Link, he asked "Come on, what about you?"

"I am certainly not in the mood for any sort of fight," he remarked bitterly. "Ask Donkey Kong."

Donkey Kong chuckled, but he had a bit more cheer than Link did. "Oh ho ho, don't put me on the spotlight!" he gave a wan grin. Barely glancing at Falco, he added "Sorry, man. I'm not up for it right now, cause not all of us are as... driven as you. Just... relax, it's a nice day outside."

"Of course it's a nice fuckin' day outside!" Falco yelled. "And we're stuck in here, cause of that asshole who wants to mess around with frilly paint and colors! And we aren't doing a goddamn thing about it!" He kicked the back of the couch in frustration.

"Pika pika piiii!"

Donkey Kong chuckled. "Even he thinks you need to tone down your language," he cracked, still trying to keep it warm between them.

Falco threw his wings in the air. "You know what, go to hell, all of you! You wanna rot like sad sacks of shit? Go ahead! I'm gonna find Fox, maybe he'll actually be proactive!"

As he stormed down the hall, Link buried his face in his hands. "What in Farore's name..." was all he managed to get out before he drifted off again.

Samus sighed empathically. "He's having a hard time. He's an ass, but not an asshole."

"Well put," DK replied. "Things'll get better. They always do..." And thus, he returned to the window, looking outside at the grass and reminiscing of the japes he had in the jungle, and his adventures back home with a smile. It was quite a surprise when a long piece of brown fabric blew into the view.

"Huh?" he snapped to the present. "Hey, guys... am I tripping, or do you see some brown fabric in the yard?"

"Brown fabric?" Samus asked quizzically.

"Yeah, brown. Think like my fur," he added.

As the three others crowded around the window, an orange piece flew by. Samus raised an eyebrow, commenting. "Yeah, and now there's two. Orange... like my suit. This is getting odd."

When the emerald green hovered over the grass, Link was the one to state "This is definitely not a coincidence." The three fabrics floated into each other and became a rumpled, disheveled pile.

"Pika pi!"

"Good idea, Pikachu. Let's get out there." DK responded.

"Think we'll get in trouble?" Link asked, but judging by the way the four of them ran out the patio door, no one truly cared.

Awe was the general mood of the group as they stood in the field, which was littered with different color fabrics. Pikachu scrambled away from them, to Samus' surprise, but she made no moves to pursue him. Link undid the pile of fabrics that had wound down to a standstill in the edge of the field. He noticed that, indeed, the green matched his clothes perfectly. "...this is quite..."

"Quite something," DK mused loudly from across the immediate field. "There's a bunch of these. And... I can kind of match each one to someone... here. Like, over here. The red. Who's that make you think of?"

"Mario," Samus answered almost immediately, hardly having to glance at the messy red fabric. "Almost to a T. And... I'll say that the green and white one is for Melanthe?"

"Yeah! Perfect Yoshi egg!" DK declared.

Suddenly, Pikachu raced back to them. "Pika pika pik!" he enthused loudly. DK called out to Link "He wants us to follow him! Let's go!"

Link nodded, dashing towards the others and keeping time as they started to run across the field, around the different fabrics and into the commotion.

Zelda drew in deep breaths after she touched ground on the far side of the mansion, collapsing and being enveloped in the large blue fabric that had helped her down. She wondered where she had gotten this one. Who had this one represented?

It dawned on her slowly as she remembered the scene with her and Fox in the store. It was Krystal's. At least, by all technicalities. She smiled, which developed into a hysterical giggle as she realized that she wasn't hurt in the slightest, still alive after such a crazy adventure.

It was mystifying, under the blanket. It reminded her of her childhood days. Often when she was bored she would simply lay under her blanket and feel life under the thin pink mist it created. She would let her imagination run wild, create new worlds and ideas, worlds she never thought she would be in. Worlds that, as it turned out, existed much more than she thought. Vindicating.

Slowly, she noticed the fabric being lifted off of her. To help out, she squirmed from beneath its hold and popping out into the real world again, and saw Fox standing beside the fabric, acknowledging her with a mixture of concern and pride. "Impressive," he cracked.

That was all he had to say? In a mixture of emotions, she ran over to him, and grabbed his arm passionately. "_You call yourself a first class pilot, you crazy son of a bitch, you could have killed- that was so freaking amazing! So incredible_!"

Fox grinned. "We did it," he told her. "We totally just did the most... incredible, unheard of thing that's ever been done. We're breaking ground here, princess."

With those words, Zelda laughed and pulled Fox towards her in a close embrace. "Yes, we did," she confirmed. "We really did."

They took a seat in the center of the fabric, waiting for the impending pandemonium that was sure to result from the event.

"How's the ship?" Zelda asked.

"I landed it. It got so many metal tumors on it that it would make no sense to fly it. But it's in good shape." he replied.

"You think they've noticed by now?"

"Undoubtedly,"

"You think we're in trouble?"

"An extreme, unmeasurable amount."

"...I don't care if you don't."

"Then we don't care."

As the strong wind died down and the fabric started to truly settle, as Master Hand and Crazy Hand started to speed through the area, as Pikachu led Donkey Kong, Samus and Link to the area with Falco distantly trailing behind, Fox and Zelda just sat there, on their piece of blue fabric that resembled Krystal, not moving at all, the proud, accomplished look on their faces not dimming in the slightest.

**A/N This. Scene. Turned. Out. Perfect.**

**And believe you me, I had my doubts. I was worried the idea would be too out there, or that the action may drag on, or that it'd be too long, or not as vivid as I hoped, but... this is one of those moments for me. Feel free to disagree, but this has become a great work. I have that sort of _Paradigms _this turned out perfect feeling. That may just be me, though. **

**So, there's just the last section left. The last little bit. And then Skyward to Freedom is wrapped up, possibly too soon. Hah, me and my spur of the moment ideas.**

**Again, thanks to Twilight for increasing by three days- however, I'm so driven I just might finish it in a little bit anyways, but you definitely gave me a load off my back- I can go in and edit. And Foxpilot, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for the advice and I hope I answered your question about Fox's behavior- it was intended. Also the idea of everything starting so suddenly was intended, to represent one of those crazy spur of the moment ideas. You ever have one of those? I do. They account for half of my fanfic career. XD**

**For the it doesn't really add much info, at the beginning, Fox and Zelda just had a normal sort of living-in-the-same-place relationship as most of the inhabitants would have, so no special backstory. Also, I'm glad you liked the Gazafly! Yes, I'm considering a twist on the usual OC story as a oneshot or something- not so much a parody as a twist. Just... how to go about it...**

**But, yes, the majority of the story is done! I just want to add in the epilogue (YES, EPILOGUE- I almost typed in prologue again) and then it'll be right as rain! :D**

**MoD**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry Foxpilot. ;) All the shadowshots in the world couldn't prevent me from this epilogue. I think it's quite necessary and it fits. And concludes on the right note- you'll probably see why**

**Well, here's the prologue-er, EPILOGUE! -censored-! Just to document the aftermath of this beautiful mess of an adventure. :D I hope you enjoy!**

"So," Master Hand was instructing the two miscreants from the previous day's big 'event', "I am giving you until the end of the day to get the premises spotless by any means necessary. Do not disappoint me again. Do you understand?"

Zelda and Fox both nodded stiffly, standing in the midst of the yard.

"Good," Master Hand replied. "Also... the fact that I almost injured you, Zelda, does warrant an apology. Although I was trying to put an end to this situation, any harm that may have befell you was far out of my intentions."

"It is accepted," Zelda responded as formally as Master Hand had apologized.

"Good." Allowing his tone to get stricter, he added "Remember. By the end of the day. No exceptions. Good day." And with that, the hand had floated back into the house.

Zelda chuckled as she made her way to the nearest piece of fabric, Pikachu's. She dragged it along the ground, starting to roll it up into one big cylinder. It was harder than it looked- the fabric was weighed down with some of the rain that had appeared last night. She sighed, collapsing into the soaked fabric, letting her head recline into the rainwater. "Wow," was all she said.

"I know," Fox replied with a smile, extending a hand out towards her. "But, we gotta get it done somehow."

Zelda nodded. "I can't create how much carnage we caused." But the statement was made with a smile. "I remember this one almost dragged me out the ship with it. Feisty little thing."

"Hah, that's Pikachu," Fox agreed. "And Marth's, how it draped over the gutter like that. So patriotic!"

"I thought so, too!" Zelda replied eagerly as they began to rehash the events. Looking up at the corner of the pale fabric, she added "I just don't know how we're gonna get it down."

"My favorite was Falco's," Fox stated. "I mean, not just cause he's my friend, but because I can't get over how perfectly his fabric matched him! It was hilarious!"

Zelda giggled. "I personally liked Samus'. And the Ice Climbers'. Although Mario's was pretty cool as well. And Game and Watch's." She sighed as she realized she was on her way to naming of the fabrics as it was. "Really, I just liked seeing it all come together so well. I love it when a good plan comes together."

"I live for that," Fox agreed. "Being a leader and all. But, you know what they say. You do the crime, then do the time."

"Hey!" they heard a voice shout in the distance. Fox and Zelda whirled around to see that Donkey Kong was running towards them, allowing himself onto all fours. Zelda's eyes widened to see that immediately behind him was Link, and then Falco. Link dashed up so that he was near Zelda, and Falco made a beeline for Fox.

"Hah, dude! That was the most incredible thing I ever thought I'd see out of a bunch of colorful fabric," Falco cracked, punching him in the arm. "I mean, sure, I already saw the ending, but when word got out about what you did, oh man... that took balls. Both of ya."

"...thanks?" Zelda replied tenatively.

Link nodded, wryly adding "Figuratively, of course. But... really, that was impressive."

Zelda blushed. "Thank...you?"

"...you're welcome..." he told her, turning somewhat red.

Zelda found herself frustrated at the situation. "You know," she snapped, although not viciously, "I miss when I was able to do this without this kind of bumbling conversation."

"Do wha-"

But before he could finish, Zelda had wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight, meaningful embrace which Link only took a second's surprised hesitation to return. Zelda could feel him whisper in her ear "Thank you."

DK cleared his throat, causing the two to separate. He gave the group of four a cordial grin. "Now, I don't mean to interrupt a good moment, but I figured you could use some help. So all of us decided we would lend a hand."

"All of us?" Fox asked.

DK cleared his throat. "_So all of us decided we would lend a hand!" _he shouted with more emphasis, and on that note, the first smasher made their way out of the patio door. That smasher, Pikachu darted out, followed closely by Samus, and then Mario came out, followed by Peach, and then almost all at once, before they knew what was happening, the yard was occupied by all twenty five smashers.

Fox grinned. "You guys are incredible," he gave them a thumbs up, certainly not about to refuse help.

DK laughed loudly at this statement. "Ah, maybe, I suppose. But you guys are especially incredible, what you did there. I mean, who would have ever thought about getting different giant rolls of fabric for each of us to represent the hope of Master Hand going easy on us? A couple of intelligent, crazy folks like you. And God bless you for it."

DK motioned toward the Pikas' fabric. "So, people, shall we start?"

With a mighty cheer that made the scene bear odd resemblance to the first few minutes of an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition demolition, the smashers made their way towards the fabric, and thus it started.

Fox made his way over to Zelda as she, DK and Peach started in on Pikachu's fabric, each of the four grabbing a corner. Zelda looked behind her to see him right behind her, and she asked with an eyebrow raise "Is... there a reason... you're-"

"Right behind you? Yeah, there is," he added with a grin. "I had an idea."

"I have one too," she chuckled. "Go over there and get to work. We caused this, we should be doing the most work."

Fox chuckled. "Aw, just gimme the benefit of the doubt," he insisted. Zelda rolled her eyes in jest, and after everyone met in the center she signaled that she was going to be right back to Donkey Kong. He nodded with a warm smile and a symbol of his own- a thumbs up. She giggled and faced Fox, who led her into the garage.

Inside the massive structure, the Gazafly sat, doors still de-attached. Not fazed in the slightest, he dove right into the ship, at the pilot's seat.

"Oh goddess not again," Zelda blurted.

"Aw, don't worry," Fox insisted. "Master Hand took the keys. Just... reach in the back, will ya?"

Zelda nodded. She was starting to learn that she needn't be so hesitant around Fox. Seemed that through thick and thin, she had good reason to do so. Bent over the seat, she felt around until she felt it- a small, blue box. She picked it up and brought it forward to her seat, and before Fox could react, opened it.

To her great surprise, there was a thin, simple blue necklace with a gorgeous lapis lazuli in the center. Astonished, she didn't know what to make of it. "F...fox..." she blurted.

Fox slammed his head into the dashboard before gasping. "Oh! Shit! I'm... sorry, that wasn't it. That was for Krystal... I was keeping it back there. Probably a bad idea."

She blushed furiously. "Oh... it's okay... I just... you know... did _not _expect that. Like, at all."

Fox gave her a wry smile. "Of course not. Seeing as you and I are of different species and I think that Link guy really has something for ya. His eyes, it's all right there."

"I-uh-err-eh..." she decided to shift the subject. "It's beautiful," she admitted, placing the necklace back in the box.

"Thanks," he replied, taking on an embarrassed tint of his own. "I owe Peach one... she's pretty good with teaching me how to make jewelry, and she even gave me the center piece."

"You made one?" Zelda smiled, a hand on the vulpine's shoulder.

"Well... y'know, with Peach's help," he replied uneasily. "I decided last night before the Hand cracked down on me that I'd ask Peach to help me with this. I mean... I just helped drop a fabric store on the mansion, I think reconciling with my girlfriend should come a bit easier after that."

"That's very sweet," she admitted, placing the small box back in the trunk and grabbing the intended object, the roll of purple fabric.

"You... really think so?" A hesitant curiosity was evident in the usually confident leader's voice. "...thanks... that means a lot to me."

"It's true," Zelda added, somewhat absentmindedly, as she lifted the fabric into the seat. "Now, about this?"

"Yes, this!" Fox nodded. "Y'see, it's the only fabric that didn't get thrown. I figure that we can make our own sort of... memory out of it... a sign of solidarity."

"...like what?" Zelda asked. "I mean, I know you have a plan."

"You're absolutely right," Fox grinned. "You see, I wanna make a flag. A flag for the Smashers. Something to represent us. We can get a piece of everybody's fabric as we clean up and... do something. As to what, I'm not sure other than the pieces and a whole lot of glue."

"But it's a start," Zelda replied, smiling. "And a good one. We should do this; you know, when the mess is cleared up. Just start getting the pieces of fabric."

Fox smiled, reaching out to hug her once again. "You're great, princess, you know that? You really are."

Zelda blushed. "Thanks... you too, Mr. McCloud."

"Ah," Fox chuckled, letting her go and jumping out of the Gazafly, "you can just call me Fox."

"The day you start calling me Zelda," she replied slyly. Like a fox, he would note later.

Fox got the point. "Oh, okay, Zelda, if you insist," he chuckled. "Shall we?"

"After you," she replied.

Fox laughed, darting out the door and allowing Zelda to take a slower pace, and soon he was fast at work, leaving her in her thoughts. She noticed that it was starting to rain again, and that with the fabrics as soaked as they were and the fact that they were out here for the day, that this should, altogether, be a miserable experience.

So why wasn't it?

Had they really accomplished so much? Even if Master Hand did not relent, they had united the Smasher's community. Donkey Kong was lifting a folded fabric over his head with Dr. Mario chatting him up; she heard them both laugh. Peach had her parasol on her shoulder as she got to work, and when it fell off, Falco, of all people, gave it back to her with a crooked grin. Both Ice Climbers put the hoods of their parkas up, but when they saw that the Mario brothers were shivering, they took the baggy jackets off and gave them to the brothers. They nodded and grinned, and Zelda got as much a giggle as the others when Luigi gave Nana's pink parka an exaggerated model's pose. Even Ganondorf, the man she hated so much, was working with Jigglypuff to fold up a fabric, exchanging idle chatter as if he actually understood the puffball, and it seemed so... seamless. Even now, Fox was talking to Marth, who grinned, getting out his sword and slicing a piece off of Roy's fabric off of the rest, handing it to the eager vulpine.

Who's to say they hadn't already accomplished something?

Unbeknownst to the others, a deep laugh rang from the window that was the center of attention the previous day. It was not an ominous laugh, or a displeased, surprised laugh. It was an amused, impressed laugh from the Master Hand himself.

Well, he _did _say 'by any means necessary.' He was impressed by the unity and cognitive efforts of the different Smashers. After he observed the scene, he floated back to his painting, a twenty by twenty foot canvas that barely covered half of the large, open room. A large hand needed his space.

He sighed as he observed, up at the top corner of the painting, a messy blending of two of the shades of blue. Dipping his paintbrush in one of the shades, he worked around the area, trying to get the two shades to mesh better. He always was quite the perfectionist. In fact, some could consider him mildly OCD. He always had to adhere to his plans- it made sense that way. And if that meant clearing the skies, he would.

But... judging by the events... maybe he was a bit too much a perfectionist.

With another sigh, he left the somewhat disjointed area be, and decided he was finished. And that, imperfections and all, he rather liked this one.

He picked up the painting, and found a nice, open space on the wall. As he reached in his desk for a giant nail, he thought that he'd have to move the navy blue fabric out of the way to make sure it didn't overlap the painting. After the nail was retrieved, he set the fabric on the ground and, with his fist, drove the nail in.

Using a string on the back of the large canvas, he hung the painting on the wall similar to a photograph. Retrieving Falcon's fabric off of the ground and placing it on his desk, he took a good look at the painting and was satisfied.

"In fact," he mused, "rather akin to a masterpiece."

And with that, he left his large office, letting the twenty by twenty canvas of the sky that was accented by different colored fabrics floating in different downward spirals and a small ship with no doors on it get adjusted to its surroundings.

**A/N And that's why I added an EPILOGUE YES I GOT IT RIGHT HOW SAD THAT I HAVE TO RANDOMLY CELEBRATE THIS to the story. To show the profits of Zelda and Fox's actions. Seeing as I'm an activist myself, I felt this mantra had to be shown, and the change on the mansion. ;) **

**Either way, I hope you enjoyed. I'm sincerely, truly proud of this work. I just love what became of this- a lot more of a substance than I had planned for. This is probably along my top 6 (yes I have six favorite works- now.) I hope this stands a good chance in the contest! Especially since another favorite, Paradigms (my only other completed multichapter story isn't that SAD?) may have its results announced too! (...probably before Words and Action gets its 5th/6th/7th place, being generous. LMFAO at life. XD)**

**I'll spend tonight/tomorrow editing the story- turns out the 4th section needs some technical work done. But overall, a solid entry! **

**MoD**


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